Rights of Parents to Know

Did
you know you have a right to know the qualifications of your child's
teachers and paraprofessionals? Did you know that your school district
must notify you of your right to request information about the
qualifications of your child's teachers and paraprofessionals?

At
the beginning of the school year, the school district must notify
parents of all children who attend Title I schools of their right to
request

information about the qualifications of your child's teachers and paraprofessionals, including:

(1)
Whether the teacher has met State qualification and licensing criteria
for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides
instruction;

(2)
Whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or other provisional
status through which State qualification or licensing criteria have been
waived.

(3)
The baccalaureate degree major of the teacher and any other graduate
certification or degree held by the teacher, and the field of discipline
of the certification or degree.

(4) Whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.

Qualifications of Substitute Teachers

Is
your child being taught by a substitute teacher? If your child has been
taught by a teacher who is not highly qualified for 4 consecutive
weeks, your school district must notify you of this fact. This
requirement applies to substitute teachers, many of whom do not meet
"highly qualified" requirements. [Source: NCLB, Title I, Section
1111(h)(6)]

How to Request Information about Teacher Qualifications

If
you want to learn the qualifications of your child's teachers and
paraprofessionals, you need to write a letter to request this
information from the school.

Since
people often lack confidence in their ability to write letters, we
wrote a sample letter that you can use as a template. Just change the
identifying information - your name, address and phone number, your
child's name, school, and principal, etc.

If you have our book, Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy,
look at the two chapters about writing letters. These chapters include
more than a dozen letters to the school that you can tailor to your
circumstances.

Improving Teacher Quality
- Free pub from U.S. Department of Education includes standards for
highly qualified teachers and clarifies parents' right to know about the
quality of their children's teachers; is written in an
easy-to-understand "Question and Answer: format.